I’ll be honest; I’m not a huge fan of the mystery genre. When the other Lite Reads editors and I picked mystery as our theme for the month of January, I wasn’t sure what to write about.

Anyone who knew me in elementary school would be shocked. For quite a few years, I only read mysteries. I devoured stories of The Boxcar Children and the ABC Mysteries. I loved any story with a detective and a case. But in recent years, I’ve found the genre to be stagnant. They’ve become somewhat predictable for me and I’ve lost my interest. I no longer finish a mystery novel with a sense of satisfaction. I just feel the lack of it.

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson is the best mystery I have read in a long time—possibly ever. I would recommend this incredible story to mystery lovers and non-mystery lovers alike. 

The story follows Margaret “Jet” Mason, a 27-year-old who is violently attacked and suffers a fatal head injury. With only a week left to live, she decides to solve her own murder, investigating her wealthy and dysfunctional family, all with the help of her childhood friend Billy. 

Jet is witty, sarcastic and rude. She is both lovable and exceedingly complex. She lashes out, takes those closest to her for granted, but all of this is done with the knowledge of how little time she has left.

Throughout Jet’s life, she has operated under the idea that she can “do it later.” She never felt that she’s been wasting her life, since she always believed she had more time. Jet’s realization that there is no “later” is absolutely heartbreaking. 

Jet’s ticking time bomb is a brilliant way for the author to up the stakes and establish a timeline. With the doctor’s diagnosis of one week left to live, the book was fast-paced and action-packed. 

Reading this book, I felt the urgency for Jet to solve her own murder. I rooted for Jet to take risks and do everything possible to catch the killer.

After all, what did she have to lose?